Financially-troubled board game publisher CMON has sold its flagship IP Zombicide to Asmodee, stripping the company of a series which has raised more than $40m on Kickstarter since its 2012 launch.
Hong Kong-listed CMON had hoped to sell more than 360 million newly-created shares in a process which would have valued the company at just over $5m, with the money raised going towards developing new games, marketing and events, and general working capital.
Steamforged CEO Rich Loxam told BoardGameWire the company had been surprised by the weight of feeling from potential backers over the $389 price of the all-in 'Town Founder' pledge level, which he acknowledged "placed it out of reach for many".
The partnership comes two weeks after Asmodee revealed Catan would be coming to Netflix in the form of both "scripted and unscripted projects".
CMON's sale of Cthulhu: Death May Die is the latest move in its drive to battle the huge losses the business has chalked up in the past couple of years - and comes alongside the company announcing a new share sale worth 20% of its existing share capital in an attempt to raise money for the company.
Moodbox Games will be led by former Catan Studio director of brand development Kelli Schmitz and long-time young adult-focused book editor Shaina Olmanson, who joined Asmodee as an operations and communications manager in May of this year.
Financially-troubled board game publisher CMON has sold its global headquarters as part of a fightback against heavy losses - and is charging some pre-order customers extra to cover tariff costs it says it "cannot absorb given our current financial position".
CMON has sold off two more of its game IPs as it continues its fightback against heavy losses - just 18 months after acquiring them from financially-devastated board game crowdfunding specialist Mythic Games.
Board game publishing and distribution giant Asmodee has launched a dedicated kids-focused brand as it prepares to release a slate of re-worked, simpler and shorter versions of some of its most popular titles.
CMON was already reeling from a more than $3m loss last year, with falling sales for its crowdfunding campaigns leading the company to its lowest annual revenue since pandemic-hit 2020.
